Refuge
photo: Syrian refugees travel by night in Hungary. with the biggest wave of refugees they have seen in the past 30 years, flooding their land from places like Syria, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Albania, Iraq, Pakistan, Eritrea, Serbia, Ukraine, and Nigeria.
Locals are unsure and scared, yet selfprotection sometimes gives way to concern for real people in real storms. Displaced people from war zones don’ t have many options. They need refuge. They need help.
As believers, we respond with care and Good News. People fleeing for their lives need moorings in the form of friends and community, as well as practical provision to anchor them. We can help by meeting practical needs of clothing, housing and furniture; locating family members; teaching the local language; and assisting to secure residence papers and jobs. Our role in their lives varies, but our ultimate task is to help asylum seekers find fellowships of believers who will love them.
Often, these refugees are Muslim, and we pray for divine appointments among them. My 70-year-old British coworker has been learning Swedish for four years. Recently, a young Syrian man approached her and asked,“ Will you help me learn Swedish while I wait for government papers and a chance to take the officially sponsored Swedish classes?” This Muslim man wanted to be ready for a job when he was legally able. My coworker met with him to share what she knew, a few steps ahead of him on the journey. She also met his friends and family and, today, is slowly able to share her faith with them.
We never know what opportunities God may bring, but we pray, believing God wants to reach the hundreds of thousands across Sweden and the millions across Europe, with the Good News in multiplying churches.
Come, Lord Jesus, with your light to dispel the darkness!
* Names changed for security reasons.
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